When Did I Find Out?
by Rushii
Summary: Shikamaru has an unfortunate encounter with Temari, but it leads him to find what he has been missing.


**Disclaimer: Neither Naruto, nor any of it's characters do, or ever will, belong to me.**

Shikamaru glanced around. _Good. No sign of that troublesome woman around. _He had been hiding ever since he had... It was a bit embarassing... well, anyway, he was hiding from Temari, not to mention Gaara and Kankuro as well.

He hadn't _meant_ to do it, he tripped, and it just sorta _happened_. Not that they would believe him. Still, even though it was an accident, it was totally worth it._ Ew, ew, ew, I did __**not**__ just think that._ Shikamaru thought back to the incident.

**'Flashback'**

**"Hey, lazy." Shikamaru had been cloud watching. When Temari snuck up like that, he was almost surprised enough to twitch. Almost.**

**"I said, hey, lazy!"**

**This time he mumbled something.**

**"What did you say?"**

**"Gawytrbsmwun..."**

**"What the hell are you saying?!"**

**"Uhh...Go away, troublesome woman!"**

**Temari smirked, which Shikamaru knew meant mischief. mentally clenching his teeth, he prepared for whatever had been planned for him. He was extremely taken aback when Temari simply pulled him to his feet.**

**"Come on, Shika, I need your help!"**

**"Don't call me Shika."**

**"Why not, **_**Shika**_**?"**

**"Number One, you barely know me. Number Two, I hate it when you call me that. And Number Three, I wish that-"**

**This is where he tripped. And fell forward. Towards Temari. And **_**put his hand out**_**. Therefore knocking her down as well, and landing over her with his hand in an extremely...uncomfortable place... namely somewhere around the chest...**

**And of course, this is the cue for Kankuro to enter.**

**"Well, Temari? Did he agree to help...WHAT ARE YOU DOING NARA?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TOUCHING TEMARI?! I OUGHT TO CASTRATE YOU RIGHT HERE BUT I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A HEAD START!**

**With that Shikamaru fled, but not before seeing the red flash in Temari's eyes.**

**'End Flashback'**

So here he was, hiding from the three Sand siblings, one of which who was bloodthirsty and extremely sadistic.

He stayed in the tree until it was very dark, and several hours must have passed. _They might have given up by now... hopefully. _Just then, a rustling in the bushes snapped Shikamaru's attention to full, for once in his life.

"Shikamaru?"

Oh shit. It was Temari.

"Don't worry, my brothers left about an hour ago."

Shikamaru stayed silent, seeing as Temari should have been the angriest one out of them all.

What she said next caught him completely off guard.

"Why are you hiding? I didn't..." At this Temari blushed,"I didn't really, well, uh, mind..." She trailed off muttering inaudibly.

2 miles away, a dog cocked it's ears as it heard a distinct **thump**. Going to investigate, it found something with a spiky pineapple shape, and began to dig it up. the pineapple groaned, and the dog immediately whimpered and fled to find something less alive to eat.

"Fell out...of tree" Shikamaru groaned.

Temari stared for a couple of seconds, then burst out laughing. This of course intensely annoyed Shikamaru, who thought she found him ridiculous. Dusting himself off, he slid away from the blonde.

Temari saw the hurt expression, and she found that it made her a bit guilty. Something that she never felt except for when she was around him. She had no idea how it had happened, but she felt a certain attraction towards the shinobi. He was everything she hated. Lazy, irresponsible, smart-alecky... and she knew she wasn't right for him. Probably too _bossy_ and _troublesome_. Yet she wanted to be with him. She wanted to kiss him, and hold him, and..._That's enough, Temari. You know that Kankuro would never allow it, and you live so far away from Konoha that it would be over as soon as you left. Ino would get him sure enough. She's right for him, too. A lot prettier than me._

With that, Temari went to scavenge what her brothers had left of dinner, and mull over how she could convince herself not to like that...that..._boy_.

- - - - - -

Shikamaru dragged himself in the front door. How troublesome the day had been. He just wanted to relax for once. Maybe he could get a C-rank mission. _Nah, Ino'd never go on something so boring. Chouji will come if I bring barbeque._ He had been so surprised by Temari's statement, but... still, it wasn't like him to be so sensitive. he had walked away mainly because he was embarassed at his fall, but also because he didn't want anyone to see the small blush that had plastered itself across his face.

With a sigh, Shikamaru opened the door to the apartment that he and Chouji hd bought together after the teams had gone separately. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Ino was standing in a dark corner with somebody. Shikamaru couldn't quite see who it was until they turned at the sound of his gasp. It was-

"Chouji?"

Surprising, really, how many shades of red someone can turn if you catch them snogging. Which is what Shikamaru found out by looking at Chouji as the couple broke apart to breath. Ino was not only red in the face, but rushed out of the room with tears shining in her eyes. Chouji merely stared after her with longing.

'Nice, Chouji. I knew you'd get her eventually." Shikamaru commented. Sighing, Chouji began to straighten his wrinkled clothes.

"Yeah, well, I did lose weight after the all-out battle with Orochimaru. I was in the hospital for, what, 5 weeks with only healthy food? And though we won, it was...we couldn't...what I mean is-"

"Sasuke was killed?"

"Well, yeah, but it sure caused the village alot of grief. Ino is still depressed because Sakura killed herself...It used to be just a crush, but she really grew to love him, didn't she?"

Shikamaru didn't answer. The memories of all the blood were coming back to him, but not the ones during the battle. The ones that nobody knew about.

He had seen Sakura stab herself. And he didn't stop her. He had simply watched as she drew the kunai towards herself, the blood splattering a little bit at his feet. And afterwards, as she pulled herself up to him, blood pouring out of her mouth, she raised her hand out for help. He had just stood there.

**'Flashback'**

**"Shi..ka..maru...Don't..let me..die!" He stood there, traumatized by the sight of one of his dearest friends slowly bleeding to death.**

**"Help..me...please!" He couldn't move. And as he stared at the red-stained kunoichi, her eyes glazed over, her mouth closed, and her muscles went limp. She fell onto his shoulder, covering him from head to toe with her blood. The situation hit Shikamaru like a ton of bricks. He had watched Sakura die. Without doing anything. The blood on him suddenly seemed very symbolic of his cowardice. Shikamaru did something he had never done before.**

**He screamed.**

**'End Flashback'**

Looking at his friend, Chouji noticed the horrified yet dazed look on Shikamaru's face. Knowing he would not get any more coversation out of him, Chouji pulled himself under the bed covers.

"G'night, Shika."

"Don't... call me that..." Shikamaru faintly whispered.

The next morning, Shikamaru woke up in a trance. He got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to meet his guide group for the day. Only a smack brought him out of his thoughts.

"-even _listening_ to me?"

"Huh?"

And standing in the meeting spot was Temari. Shikamaru looked cautiously around, but her two brothers were nowhere to be seen.

"I _said_, are you listening to me?!"

"No, not really..."

All his smart-ass comeback got him was a beating over the head with Temari's completely metal fan. But he still managed to cover up the fact that he had been staring off into space for about 2 hours. '_I don't even remember falling asleep. The only thing I __**do**__ remember is the "memory" '._ A sad look settled itself onto Shikamaru's face.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

No answer.

"I said, what's wrong?"

Silence replied.

"Well, what is _wrong _with you... Shika?"

Yet even the annoying pet name did nothing to bring said lazy-ass out of his own mind. So Temari marched right up to Shikamaru, pulled is head back by his ponytail, and slapped him. Shikamaru immediately snapped his head away, glaring at her. A pause lingered in the air,and stayed in effect for at least a minute. Temari slowly worked up the courage to slap him again for ignoring her all day, but as she swung her hand, it stopped.

Shikamaru had caught it in his. Without thinking, his instinct told him to get comfort from the nearest thing. So Temari was pulled into a hug. With the head of her tour guide buried into her neck. She couldn't help but do what nobody thought possible of her. She blushed.

When Shikamaru finally pulled away, there were tears glistening in his eyes. And he could no longer hold them back. He fell to his knees, crying in bursts of stifled sobs.

Temari of course, knew that this wasn't the time to tease or snicker. So she did what she could, and rested Shikamaru's head in her arms as she muttered calming noises. Soon, the sobs were diminished to nothing but dry gasps.

Exhausted from crying, as it often makes people, Shikamaru fell asleep under a tree on the way home, but woke up long enough to go the rest of the way when a passing deer decided to nibble on his pineapple-shaped hair.

_**Please, all readers, send me no hate mail for not updating! As I stated at the beginning of the chapter, I won't be able to add anymore until August. But I promise, I will write an extra long chapter to make up for it!**_

_**And yes, I decided Sasuke and Sakura died. It just adds a problem to the story, so that i can find a way to make Shikamaru...**_

_**I can't say that, it'll give away the plot. Never mind!**_

_**Review!**_


End file.
